Pictures: Deadly Mud Volcano to Erupt for 26 More Years

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The world's biggest and fastest growing mud volcano, Lusi sprang to life in May 2006, and it and may continue to spew hot mud for another 26 years, according to a new study. Lusi could expel the equivalent of 56,000 Olympic-size swimming pools of mud before it finally simmers down, say scientists from the U.K.'s Durham University.

Mud volcanoes, which can appear on land or underwater, form when underground layers of silt or clay become pressurized either by tectonic activity or by a buildup of hydrocarbon gases.

To calculate Lusi's future mud flow, the team observed water pressure in a borehole near the volcano and combined that data with knowledge of the rocks' properties and mudflow volumes since 2006. (See pictures of Indonesia's mud volcanoes.)

"The calculation should enable a better assessment of the final impact of the disaster and gives the inhabitants of [East Java] an indication of how long they can expect to be affected by mud from the volcano," study leader Richard Davies said in a statement.

In the nearly five years since Lusi reawakened, villages have disappeared under the mud, which is 60 feet (18 meters) deep in places, according to a 2008 article in National Geographic magazine. Thirteen people have died and at least 10,000 families have been forced from their homes, according to the Durham University scientists.

Meanwhile, trucks and backhoes work relentlessly to contain the damage, fortifying dikes against the 600,000 barrels of mud that continue to surge out each day, National Geographic magazine reported in 2008.

"Nothing can stop it," Sumitro, a store-owner in Porong District, told the magazine. "Not technology, not the supernatural."

A family displaced by the mudflows was forced to move into a market in Sidoarjo, East Java, as seen in 2008.

Since 2006 the volcano has released millions of barrels of heated sludge, blanketing an area twice the size of New York City's Central Park, according to a 2008 article in National Geographic magazine.

Residents evacuate their houses after a dam meant to hold back mud breached in Porong, East Java, in February 2008.

Though dams have contained much of Lusi's mudflow, they're not foolproof. In addition to breaches, torrential rains could erode dikes, releasing more mud and displacing more people, according to National Geographic magazine.

Many neighborhoods near the volcano lie abandoned, including parts of the Porong District, which store-owner Sumitro once called home.

According to a 2008 National Geographic article, footprints of fleeing residents are baked into the mud of Porong's empty streets. Scavengers have stripped homes of roof tiles and wiring. The stink of sulfur hangs in the air.